If you’re thinking of making a change in your life and relocating, you might be wondering where to start. Big cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago are top favorite destinations for people from all walks of life, be it students, professionals, people seeking jobs, and more. This is because they offer a lot of diversity and access to culture like few other places in the country.

Living in these cities is an exciting experience, but also an expensive one. For example, according to US News, NY is the seventh most expensive city to live in in the US. If you’re looking to move to somewhere like NYC, managing your cost of living is probably high up on your agenda. Especially if you’re on a student budget or just starting out at your first job! When it comes to budgeting itself, you may find it difficult to cut costs in food or travel. That leaves one big category that could help you ease your living – accommodation.

There are several ways you can find rooms or apartments to rent. And, in a city as big as New York City, you’ll have many options to choose from for the best website to find roommates. But how should you judge which is the best website to find roommates? Is it features you’re looking at, the number of options you have to choose from? Or something as basic as the reliability of roommates you find? While you’ll definitely have Facebook groups and Craigslists to choose from, a surer way to find safe roommates is to use a roommate finder like Roomgo or the Roomgo alternative, Roomi. These services can help make your roommate search in the city super easy.

Related: Your Ideal Roommate Match Based on Your Zodiac

Pricing: Are Roommate Finder Apps Free Or Paid?

For example, if you’re finding roommates in NYC and trying to save money where you can, finding a roommate finder that’s within your budget is key. Here, we’ll take a look at Roomi and Roomgo and compare the pricing offered by both applications.

Roomgo offers both free and paid subscriptions. The paid or Premium plan offers two advantages for renters over the Basic plan –  access to Basic rooms before everyone else and unlimited access to all room ads. If you’re renting, a Premium subscription gives you unlimited access to all flatmates on the platform.

Roomi takes the cake when you compare it with other roommate finder websites. You may wonder, how? Well, Roomi has no monthly subscription fees, no hidden costs for messaging, and no extra costs for viewing listings first! However, Roomi does have a Gold subscription that gives you unlimited messaging with potential roomies, unlimited swipes if you’re using the mobile app, and a Verified status. It is priced at $29.99 per month or $14.99 per week. Roomi’s Ranking Boost gives you more messages and more views on your profile and listings. Moreover, you get multiple listings so you can post all the rooms in your flat. Also, free bookings help you save money when you’re transferring cash to your new roommate.

Related: How To Deal With A Messy Roommate

With all of these extra features, paying for a little extra for the Gold subscription on Roomi gives you a higher chance of finding a roommate who’s a perfect fit.

Security: Can These Apps Help Me Find Roommates I Can Trust?

If you’re choosing to move to a whole new city and share your living space with someone, you want to make sure you find a safe roomie. In most cases and especially if you’re moving to a new city, it’s important for you to have someone in the city you can rely on in emergencies. For some of you, that may mean a family member or close friend. But, in the case that you don’t have a person of contact, you’ll want a roommate who’s like family.

While finding a safe roomie in a new city is like the top priority, you also want to share your space with someone who matches your mental wavelength. This is where a good roommate finder helps you find your perfect match. Apps that verify their users’ identities and do background checks will definitely help you find legitimate roomies over ones that don’t offer these features. Let’s compare Roomgo and Roomi on some of the security measures available for users.

• Verifies Roommate Contact Information – Roomgo uses a moderation system to make sure all advertisements posted are safe. However, it doesn’t vet each member. Roomi uses Global iD, a software system that individually verifies both phone numbers and email addresses while still maintaining the privacy of the user.
• ID Verification – Roomgo does not verify the identity of users on their platform. Roomi on the other hand makes it easy for you to verify your identity using Global iD. The other advantage is that this verification can be carried forward to any of the other Global iD partners. Even though your ID is verified by Roomi, you have complete control over who can see your email ID, message you, email you, and so on. You can even toggle your settings so that only verified members can contact you. This drastically reduces the chances of being scammed. Roomi also makes sure your potential roommate’s ID is verified.
• Privacy and Security of Profiles – Roomgo takes steps to make sure your private information isn’t given to anyone except you. You also have the option to modify your personal data whenever you want. Roomi offers the same benefits with the addition of ensuring profiles are real by requiring uploading of a profile picture. This photo is checked to ensure the face of the user is visible and thus, prevents people from creating fake profiles using pictures of objects or buildings.
• 24/7 Support & Content Moderation – Both Roomgo and Roomi offer 24/7 content moderation on their websites and applications. However, Roomi goes one step above to give you round-the-clock support to help you with any questions or difficulties you might be facing. This makes your hunt for roommates smoother and hassle-free.
• Criminal Background Check – Roomi does optional criminal background checks so you know who you’ll be living with. Once you submit your profile to Roomi for a background check, it helps you boost your matches! Roomgo on the other hand doesn’t offer this service.

Related: 6 Shared Apps for Roommates to Help Keep Your Apartment A Conflict-Free Zone

Which App Makes It Easier to Find Your Perfect Roommate?

Now that you know all about the security of these room finder apps, it’s time to look at the ways they can help you find roommates. Both Roomgo and Roomi require you to enter the location you want to live in, what it is you’re looking for, as well as some fun facts about yourself. There’s also a description box to fill out your interests and the kind of place you are looking to rent. The Roomi app allows you to apply a whole bunch of other filters. These filters will really help you with your roommate search in NYC. The biggest boost Roomi gives you over other roommate finders is that it’s an integrated app. Roomi allows you to find both rooms and roommates in one convenient place. It matches you using an algorithm that’s tried and tested by over 50,000 roommates worldwide.

You can choose the gender of roommate – male, female, non-binary, and other. Also, you can choose preferences such as smoking, individuals with pets, tell potential roomies how clean you are. What’s more, you can share your stance on having guests over! This is where you also get to decide whether you want to see roommates who are verified completely, partially, or have linked their Facebook or LinkedIn accounts. Within the same app, you can also filter for rooms without roommates. The Roomi app is super user-friendly, and it’s very to find everything you want at your fingertips.

So, Which Is The Best Roommate Finder for You?

Your roommate search in NYC can seem like a long and tiring task. But, if you use the best website to find roommates, it’ll be completely hassle-free. When it comes to choosing a roommate finder, you have to keep in mind things such as cost, security, and of course, ease of use.

Having compared two roommate finders in NYC, we see how they are similar across different parameters such as content moderation and the basic subscription plans they offer. However, when it comes to important issues such as ID verification, security of profiles, and the advantages of a paid subscription, the Roomgo alternative, Roomi pulls ahead.

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